Investigation of the lock and stretcher bars in the facing points [facing towards the moving train] at Lambrigg crossover showed that one of three stretcher bars was missing, and bolts that secured the lock bar and another stretcher bar were not in place  some of these bolts and the associated nuts and washers were found in the ballast, but others were not. However, the RAIB search of the area has not been completed. There is no evidence that the bolts had been wrenched free. Two of the stretcher bars were fractured; in one case the nature of the fracture surface indicates that it may have been consequential to the derailment. In the other case, the fracture surface indicates that it may have predated the derailment. The latter will be confirmed by further analysis.

There was therefore no complete stretcher bar in place between the switch rails immediately before the derailment. The left hand switch rail was free to move across close to the left hand stock rail whilst the right hand switch rail remained, correctly, against the right hand stock rail.

The marks on the crossover at Lambrigg indicate that at the time of the derailment both switch blades were in contact or very close to their respective stock rail. The train wheels were thus set on a course where the gauge was narrowing as the train moved forward. The train wheels, (which are rigidly mounted on an axle a fixed distance apart), could not follow the narrowing route and climbed over both switch rails, and then ran in a derailed state.

The RAIB further noted that there is evidence that a scheduled visual inspection to have been performed Sunday, February 18, may not have taken place, although Network Rails inspection train did run over the crossing on February 21, two days before the crash. The inspection train takes and records automatic measurements and video images of track geometry and conditions, but both automatic and visual inspections of all track are periodically required.

In terms of maintenance, the RAIB said:

The RAIB has carried out a preliminary review of the recent maintenance of the points at Lambrigg based upon documents provided by Network Rail.

This review indicates that all recently scheduled tests of the points took place on the Network Rail scheduled dates. The RAIB will further review when visual inspections were carried out. There is evidence that the last scheduled visual inspection on Sunday 18 February did not take place. The RAIB will carry out further investigation into the content of these tests and inspections.

Network Rails New Measurement Train ran over the site on Wednesday 21 February. This train records the geometry of the track and also takes a video record of the track. The RAIB is currently in the process of reviewing these records.

In the UK, the Rail Accidents Investigation Branch, a government unit, was established as a result of a series of British Rail accidents that ended the lives of scores of riders, as well as the existence of the company responsible for track maintenance at that time, RailTrack. Network Rail was set up to replace the failed RailTrack organization, discredited when its maintenance practices were blamed for many of the fatal accidents.

However, members of the public, and union leaders, have demanded that rail maintenance and operations be put back into the public sector, so that profit-motive calculations do not enter into maintenance decisions.

In the United States, Bush Administration proposals to privatize Amtrak and split up its operational and maintenance functions have been bitterly opposed by union leaders and others, who point to the ongoing example of the British privatization experiment as a reason to keep service involving the public, and its safety when traveling by rail, in the public sector.

In England in the early 1990s, under the Governments of Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and her successor John Major, the publicly owned BritRail was privatized by selling of its track and other infrastructure to a private business, RailTrack, and putting out its operating routes to bid. Private rail companies responded by bidding on routes and putting on additional trains, while RailTrack was saddled with a fixed price maintenance contract. The consequence of increased train frequencies without a corresponding increase in maintenance was a series of accidents.

Photo: RAIB

The February 23 17:15 from London to Glasgow on the ground near Lambrigg Crossing. Numbers are in order of the consist before derailment.

On its website the RAIB states:

The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is the independent railway accident investigation organization for the UK.

The RAIB is concerned with the investigation of accidents and incidents on:

The national railway networks in Great Britain and Northern Ireland;

The Channel Tunnel (in co-operation with its equivalent operation in France);

Destination: Freedom is partially funded by the Surdna Foundation, and other contributors.

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